Initial thoughts on the Restrictions and Closings

Our restrictions began on Tuesday, March 10th with indoor gathering being limited to 100 and the prohibition of school field trips, to name a couple.  That Thursday afternoon, the government announced schools closing the following week until after Easter Monday and asked companies to make work-from-home possible for employees.  The next morning, Friday morning, March 13th, we received a 7am text from our school principal pleading with the parents to not send the kids to school.  Everything slid to a sudden stop for us at that point.  We made a frantic Friday morning trip to the grocery store to make sure we had enough food for a week.  (Europeans often shop every day or every other day for fresh groceries, and storage and refrigerator space is quite limited.)  By the next week, all non-essential stores were closed, initially for one week which was then extended until after Easter Monday.  The government restricted us from leaving the house unless we are (1) going to an essential job, (2) buying essential groceries, (3) helping others, or (4) getting some fresh air alone or with others from our household.  The one meter separation was announced.  We are now a little over two weeks into simultaneous schooling and working from home.  We take a couple walks a day, greet the neighbors from a distance.  There are pieces of it which are really fun and special, and the teachers are doing a wonderful job of attempting to support the kids and parents while not overwhelming us.  No one knows what we are doing.  But the reality of this strange situation is that it is not a balancing act.  It is a constant letting go...

The 7am text on March 13th

At 7am, as we were rushing to get out the door to catch our bus to school, I briefly checked my messages.  Both of the WhatsApp groups for the kids' classes were going crazy with texts.  The principal was urgently asking all parents to keep their kids home from school.  What?  The press conference the day before had announced schools closing the following Wednesday due to the virus.  Why all of a sudden now?  Apparently with all of the colds and flu going around, the teachers really would have no way to know whether or not kids had the virus, and so they were asking parents to simply keep all kids at home from now on.  And thus it began.  The Tuesday prior had brought the first restrictions to Austria, restricting indoor events to 100 and outdoor events to 500, which meant that our church couldn't continue meeting.  But that was just the beginning.

Pictures from our first two weeks of quarantine:

Day 1 of School-from-Home, Friday, March 13th, 2020

 Gym class via fun youtube videos

 School work outside on a nice day

 Amazing weather one afternoon.  We are SOOO thankful for our own outdoor space.

 Eva's stamping project

 This was how I destressed during morning school

 Our back patio which we hardly ever used became an important play-space while we had to keep the kids away from the neighborhood kids.  The required distancing of 1-2 Meters is really difficult for kids to remember!

 Home haircuts!

 Church via Live-Stream

 We tuned in to many press conferences to keep informed of what was coming next.

 My essential minutes of solitude and silence in the morning before the kids awake.  They are my only moments of quiet!

 Gregory and I try to spend some one-on-one time which each kid most evenings.  Eva and I may have snuck leftover cookie dough once or twice.  Shhhhh

 Tuning in for a storybook time with famous Austrians

 One of the perks from school-at-home:  doing school work in a fort

Fasching 2020

Fasching happened last week.  (Carnival Tuesday)  So the school had a huge party the Friday before.  The kids were so excited to take soda and chips to school!  Eva was our beautiful Elsa princess.  Nathanael was our cool police officer.